Tell me about the VZ58

[STAGE 2]

Since I'm behind the iron curtain fighting the good fight in california, I tend to, for personal reasons, bypass the AR's, AK's and most other semiauto detachable mag rifles. For me its always been like being handed the keys to the ferarri with it being locked in first gear. Fun bu no so much.

That said, the other day I stumbled upon a company that sells CA legal vz58 rifles and was intrigued. I did all the requisite reading on the history of the thing and used my google-fu to great effect but as someone who owns several SKS's I'm trying to find the usefullness of having another 10 rd stripper clip fed 7.62.

To those of you that own these what do you think. Are they that much better than the AK? How do they compare accuracy wise to an SKS? What are your overall impressions, likes and dislikes. Is this combloc rifle actually worth the price?

 

[IZZY]

Not worth any extra if you cant use the detachable mags due to Californcating the gun.

Otherwise the VZ58 is a great rifle.

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I have both an accurized old ( $89.00... not giving away my age am I ??? ) Chinese SKS, & a new Czech VZ 58...

I used to have the detach magazines, folding stock, & all the other tacticool stuff on my SKS, but that type of rifle was never my "cup o tea" & last year I put a monte carlo stock on it, did the accurizing work, & put the 10 round fixed magazine back on it... IMO, this rifle is "better" than before ( definately not "locked in 1st gear" ) I'm probably faster with the stripper clips, & the factory 10 rounder than I was with the hard to swap 30 rounders, as a plus, the group sizes are now less than 1/4 what they used to be, & shooting prone is much much easier without that long magazine hanging down there...

My VZ 58 hasn't been shot anywhere near as much as my SKS, but it's a 1st rate ( machined, not stamped ) rifle, every bit as relyable as the AK's I've shot ( I don't own an AK ) ... it's too bad ( from a practicality point of view ) that as similar as the rifles are, that the VZ can't take the AK mags ...my VZ was more accurate than my SKS, before I accurized the SKS, but is now less accurate after the SKS accurizing... IMO, if you're just after something to blast away with, just get an AK or SKS... if you're looking for something a little more "up scale" the VZ 58 is definately that...

as far as the high cap mags... limiting the mag capacity is stoopid... & I feel for those that are limited, but with a little practice & set up, the stripper fed guns are just as fast... so IMO, it's not like "I" feel like I'm locked in 1st gear... my SKS can race with the best of them

 

[stubbicatt]

Went to the gunshop yesterday and eyeballed an AK and a VZ58 side by side. The AK was heavier. The VZ had a longer and creepier trigger pull. The particle board stocks on the VZ were sort of strange, to me. The lower handguard on the example I held was loose.

I liked the large opening to the receiver on the VZ, and thought that one could load stripper clips through that opening using a protrusion on the bolt carrier. The one I looked at looked like the stripper clips would simply slide around as there was no "claw" machined on the carrier to retain them.

I liked them both. It would be difficult to choose between them I think.

Last round bolt hold open would be nice.

I like the primary extraction afforded by the rotating bolt of the Kalashnikov tho, and have concluded that the straight pull extraction is OK on the SKS or VZ due to the taper of the case, but prefer a rotating bolt for most other firearms, one of the detriments to the FAL, as I see it. (I guess the G3 is ok as most of the case is floating in gas, and only the last 1/4 of the case actually obdurates to seal the chamber.)

Due to the novelty, I think I would probably choose the VZ.

 

[Distortion]

Stubbicatt, the following is from the VZ-58 Wikipedia page:

When the last round from the magazine is fired, the bolt will remain locked open on the bolt catch, activated by the magazine’s follower. The magazine release tab is located at the base of the receiver, behind the magazine well. The bolt carrier has a built-in guide rail used for reloading from 10-round stripper clips (from the SKS rifle).

 

[stubbicatt]

LazyBastard:

Thanks for the Wiki post. However, the example I looked at lacked any means of retaining the stripper clip in the bolt carrier. I could see where the carrier was milled out in effort to accomplish this, but in fact, unlike the provision on the SKS, or even the M14, where there is a milled slot that partially surrounds the stripper clip, the provision on this VZ58 had two parallel arms, but no "claw" that would hold the clip securely to the carrier. (I hope my description is adequate).

I guess the way I would try to describe it is if you extended your hands, palms facing each other with the fingers straight, pointing away from your body. That is what the VZ58 slot I saw looked like. Compare that to extending your hands, palms facing one another, but fingers bent at a 90 degree angle so the finger tips are pointing inwards. That would be like the SKS clip slot or the M14 clip slot.

Thus the clip would appear to be able to sort of flop around without a provision to capture it against the bolt carrier. Perhaps there is something on the top of the magazine itself which would capture the clip and keep it steady while feeding rounds? But as it was, I was dubious of the ability to feed rounds from the SKS stripper clip.

I've read on the CZ forums, that the Czechs use a different stripper clip for these rounds, other than the SKS type. Perhaps the rifle works better with these modified clips or something?

I ripped this photo off from a gunbroker auction, but it tends to show what I saw as a deficiency.

 

[DBAR]

I've handled a few of these, and even put a few rounds down range with one. They are really well made guns. Looks to be part SKS, and part AK47. It's not designed to be loaded from stripper clips. The magazine can be loaded with stripper clips as long as you use a feed device. Good Guns, but not for me. Maybe if I had more money than I needed, I'd buy one for the collection. The AK47 I have works just fine.

DBAR

 

[buzz_knox]

The VZ is a very good weapon. Built like a tank yet lighter than a standard AK. The VZ is highly recommended for those interested in a 7.62 weapon willing to put up with the higher price of non-AK mags and gear. If I hadn't been working on getting my AK stockpile together, I'd have a brace of VZs.

 

[Evil Monkey]

Who cares if you can't use stripper clips? It's a magazine fed weapon.

 

[HorseSoldier]

The VZ is highly recommended for those interested in a 7.62 weapon willing to put up with the higher price of non-AK mags and gear.

What are mags up to now for them? They used to be nearly as cheap as G3 magazines, before a lot of VZs started turning up on the market . . .

 

[armoredman]

I have a standard capacity VZ-58, great shooter, very happy with it. I tried the SKS stripper clips, works, after a fashion. I tried to get CZ-USA to import the stripper clips, but they were informed by CZ-UB there aren't any in thier posession - some Czech warehouse is full of them somewhere waiting for Sportsman's Guide to find them.
Czechpoint carries every spare part you can imagine for the VZ-58, good people. They have both the 10 round and the standard capacity magazines, IIRC.
Seriously, this is a great rifle. I just installed the Mako quad rail forearm and folding foreward grip, with a BSA holosight, and zeroed it this morning. FUN times! I love shooting this rifle, never get tired of it. Reload for it, too.

Yes, I still have the original Sporter stock on it - I like it, and can't afford the fancy good folders yet. Maybe next year.

 

[joeb]

This is my torrid affair with a VZ

Just finished it yesterday...Still in the touch and feel stage of the relationship, though it could actually progress to the shooting stage soon.

 

[HorseSoldier]

Very nice. I'm a fan of the particle board looking furniture, I guess because the .mil one I got trained on featured it (and probably some odd Cold War nostalgia . . .)

 

[Distortion]

What are mags up to now for them? They used to be nearly as cheap as G3 magazines, before a lot of VZs started turning up on the market . . .

They're up to $17 here used. Note: I haven't ordered anything from Apex Gun Parts. This is just the cheapest price for VZ-58 mags I've found by searching.